Artemis Fowl: The Remembrance Link
by Nuyaviel
Summary: If you take away the memories and influences of the People, I might become a cold, heartless individual again," said Artemis in EC. Now that that's happened, the LEP feel guilty. Meanwhile, sparks fly between Artemis, now 18, and a female classmate.
1. change and loose ends

**DISCLAIMER:** No, Artemis Fowl and all the characters whom Eoin Colfer included in his wonderful trilogy are not mine.

**A/N:**

Okay, I can't take it anymore. There are simply too many flaws in my fic "Artisan Cliff." One, I disregarded Eternity Code when I wrote it. Not on purpose. Eternity Code hadn't come out in the Philippines when I was well into the writing of Artisan Cliff.

Two, the title sucks. I'm terrible with titles. The title of this fic isn't much better, but at least it's better than Artisan Cliff, a title which I couldn't explain if my life depended on it.

Three, Artisan Cliff wasn't well-written. I admit it. Most of the chapters are too short, or too abrupt, or too choppy, or, as Nyghtvision mentioned, too full of unnecessary details.

Anyway. Here it is. The logical version, set after EC. Artemis Fowl doesn't have his memories. Mulch Diggums plays a vital role. And, of course, so does Lianne Ramirez.

* * *

_A year after the wiping of Artemis Fowl's memories of the people._

**PROLOGUE**

_(change and loose ends)_

"Foaly!"

The centaur looked up as Holly burst into the Operations booth. He was munching on a carrot. "What?' he mumbled.

"Routine Fowl surveillance… and Foaly, he's back," Holly said anxiously.

Instantly Foaly grew serious. "He's discovered us again?"

Holly shook her head impatiently. "No, he doesn't even care at all about fairies or magic. Although he has been painting a lot of fairy pictures. Foaly – he's back to being evil."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember how he was when we first came into contact with him? When he kidnapped me? Remember?"

Foaly thought of a pale youth with icy eyes and a voice that could send chills down any spine. A ruthless youth with no qualms about getting what he wanted. A despicable person. "Yes, I remember."

"Well, he's back to being that way," Holly said.

"How do you know?" Foaly asked, swinging around to face his computers, already calling up every file related to the current activities of Artemis Fowl. As he scanned the screen, he paused. "Oh."

"You see? I only found out when I entered – "

"Root said you weren't to enter Fowl Manor anymore."

"I was bored, and I still have an invitation," Holly snapped. "Will you listen? Foaly, he's holding the girl in the same room where he held me."

"Root told me a few months ago that I could stop checking up on Fowl," Foaly mused, his eyes flying over the words on the screen. Forgery. Theft. But, most alarming – "Kidnapping." The centaur shook his head.

"Artemis Fowl has kidnapped the daughter of a gangster in Hong Kong!" Holly glared at Foaly. "I think we owe it to the girl to save her."

"Tong Sheng Tu," Foaly said as his finger danced over the keyboard. "Or, quite simply, Cathy Tan." He snickered. "Chinese names kill me, they really do."

Holly darted forward and smacked Foaly hard, right on his head. The centaur gave a cry of pain, completely taken aback. Holly wasn't usually a violent person.

"You moron!" she yelled. "Artemis Fowl just kidnapped a human girl – the ransom he's asking for is ridiculous – and you're sitting there making jokes!"

"Holly, you're turning red," Foaly complained, rubbing his head. "If you keep this up, you'll be just like Root in a few decades."

The auburn-haired elf made an incoherent sound of fury and drew her hand back to hit him again.

Foaly raised his arms in surrender. "Okay, okay. What are you so upset about, anyway? So Fowl kidnapped a girl. At least he didn't kidnap you."

"Foaly," Holly said slowly, enunciating each syllable so he would understand how serious he was. "Artemis said that if we wiped the memories and influences of the People from his mind, he might again become that cold individual who kidnapped me and set an exploding whaler trap for Commander Root. And he was right."

Foaly looked at her warily. "So what do you want to do?"

"I think we should save the girl."

Foaly tapped a few more keys, and a picture appeared on the screen.

He dropped his carrot. "You're right. We did the world of Mud Men an injustice when we set Artemis Fowl loose on them."

On the screen was a picture of a chubby girl, not more than six years old, her smile angelic, her features cherubic. Her chinky eyes were dark and bright with childish intelligence.

Foaly pressed a button on a communications system which allowed him to contact Julius Root. "Hey, Julius."

The commander appeared on the screen, his face red, his expression annoyed. "This better be good, pony. And it's Commander Root to you."

Without preamble, Foaly said, "Fowl has reverted back to form."

Instantly Root's complexion purpled. "He's found us again?"

"No. But he kidnapped a Mud Girl for a ransom. The figure is astronomical."

Root visibly relaxed. "Well, then, let him be. We have nothing to do with it."

"Commander," Holly interjected, "I really feel we have a duty towards this girl."

"And why is that, Captain Short?" But Root was losing his cool again, his face slowly darkening.

Holly repeated what she'd told Foaly about Artemis, how they were responsible for changing him into a decent human being, and how they'd undone all that. Then she went in for the kicker.

"Commander," she finished, "Fowl kidnapped a six-year-old girl. An infant, by fairy standards."

"He's not a fairy," Root retorted. Then he sighed. "Even if we do have a moral obligation to help, we won't be helping, except indirectly. Do you understand that, Short? We can't risk triggering his memories. He'd become a hazard to us. We were practically at his beck and call."

"What can we do?" Holly asked softly.

On the screen, Root considered. Finally, he said, "What we decided a year earlier, when we wiped Fowl's mind. Our influence may be gone, but his family's still there. And from what I hear, your magic did them a lot of good, Short. Foaly says Fowl's parents have been doing good deeds left and right."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we're going to tattle on Fowl. We're going to tell his parents what their pride and joy has been up to, and let them talk to him."

Holly looked up, and something in her hazel eyes was infinitely pained. "He said Jon Spiro would be the last... Commander, if Fowl still doesn't release the girl and stop his criminal activities?"

"We leave him alone, Captain Short. We leave him alone."

-------)---{}---(-------

Artemis sat in the study, feeling very much like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His mother paced in front of him, quite upset. His father had even forgotten to put on his prosthetic leg, and because of that, he simply sat across Artemis, and the look on his face was one that Artemis only remembered seeing some years ago, when he invested in a project that went bankrupt.

His parents stayed with him for a long time. Sometimes they talked to him in reasonably calm tones, sometimes his mother started crying and blaming herself, sometimes his father lost his temper completely and yelled about greediness and heroism and good deeds.

In the end, they decided to punish him by separating him from Butler. To his own astonishment, Artemis was completely appalled by the idea. At first he tried to pretend he didn't care, then he told his parents he was sure they weren't that heartless, then he threatened to _assassinate_ little toddlers if they sent Butler away, and when none of that worked, he flat-out begged. He couldn't remember doing anything so degrading.

(Juliet, who was passing outside, couldn't resist a bit of eavesdropping. She was absurdly touched, on behalf of her brother, and she decided she'd tell him what Artemis was doing for him before she left for a wrestling career in America tomorrow. All of Madame Ko's rules about never getting too attached to the Principal aside.)

His mother caved in first. She agreed to let Butler stay.

But things were going to change around this house. Both his parents were equally determined about that. There would be change.

Artemis didn't argue. In truth, he had only kidnapped the little girl on a whim, out of frustration, when after months of searching, he couldn't find a single clue as to why he had awoken one morning with mirrored lenses in his eyes. Out of respect for his parents' newfound goodwill towards the human race, he had resolved to limit his criminal activities only towards people who could stand to have a few million dollars stolen from them, and Tong Xie Zhao, his victim's father, was quite the ruthless, wealthy criminal. His only weakness was his daughter… and Artemis hadn't hesitated to take advantage of that.

He had, to his consternation, felt incredibly guilty about kidnapping little Tong Sheng Tu, and in a way, he was relieved to tell her that she was going back to her parents, to her doting father. For some reason, he was getting tired of his constant drive to accumulate more wealth. If he was honest with himself, he had gotten tired a year ago, but the family motto spurred him on. _Aurum Est Potestas._ Gold is Power.

-------)---{}---(-------

Later, when Artemis Fowl, Junior, had been forced by his father to release Tong Sheng Tu – or Cathy Tan – and he was being given a good, old-fashioned scolding by Angeline Fowl and Artemis Fowl Senior, Foaly emerged from the cocoon of his intense study of the Fowl Files since he had stopped checking some months ago.

"We left a lot of loose ends, Holly."

She shook her head and listlessly toyed with her helmet, her gaze focused on some faraway point. "No, we didn't."

"Jon Spiro, for one."

"He's in a mental institution."

"He keeps rambling about Fowl and black magic," Foaly said. "Soon Fowl might find him."

For the first time since an untraceable call had been placed to the Fowl Manor, informing Angeline Fowl that her son had managed to hold a six-year-old girl captive a few rooms below, life and interest flooded back into Holly's face. "Why is that?"

"Because Fowl's already found Arno Blunt."

"_No_," Holly breathed. She recalled how Butler had, making use of invisibility, scared Arno Blunt, hired thug and bodyguard extraordinaire, into confessing all of his crimes.

"Blunt recently confessed to the murder of a man named Butler in a restaurant in Knightsbridge, London, a crime which he says he committed a year ago," Foaly said sourly. He didn't like it when he forgot little details, but he had been so eager to pit his decoding skills against Fowl's ability encrypt his diary entries that he had completely forgotten about Arno Blunt.

"That didn't trigger all their memories?"

"No. There are more Butlers in the world than you think. But it sure triggered Fowl's suspicions. He thinks someone is monitoring all his movements, although from what I can tell, he gave up trying to search for that elusive someone – ahem, us – around the time that he started making records of his plan to kidnap the little Chinese girl. And they can all sense that Butler's aged, somehow."

"What did you do?"

"I've hacked into the human intelligence agency files, and I changed Blunt's description of the Butler he killed into one that will fit a lawyer in Washington, who joined the missing persons list at around the same time Butler was shot. Adrian Butler was five feet and eight inches tall, he was thick around the waist, and he was blond haired and blue eyed. No idea what happened to him, but that should send Fowl off the track." Foaly paused. "And I deleted from all records any mention of Artemis Fowl, or a vampire youth, by John Spiro or Arno Blunt."

"Looks like you've saved the day again, Foaly," Holly said.

The centaur was relieved to see that the elf's mood was lifting. He chewed on a carrot and spoke around it. "Actually, there's a particular loose end that really worries me."

"What is it?" Holly asked.

"Muclh Diggums," Foaly said slowly.

"He's in prison," Holly pointed out.

"He's trying to find a lawyer to take his case for him. You know he's been writing to Elena Calyárina?"

Holly quickly attached the name to the mature, sophisticated elf who was one of the most popular and skilled lawyers in Haven – in fact, she had once represented a commander in Atlantis, who had been accused of embezzlement. She snickered. "Why would Elena Calyárina represent Mulch Diggums?" (That's like Beethoven taking an interest in Britney Spears, but neither Holly nor Foaly would understand that.)

"I don't know, but if she does, I guarantee you she'll get him off," Foaly grumbled. "I've seen Calyárina in action, and she's good."

Holly shrugged. "Mulch's case will be tried at least a decade from now. You know a review of his case will be agonizingly slow, seeing as how he's offended a Commander, jeopardized the Fowl affair, and stolen some of the Council gold and all."

Foaly snorted. "If Calyárina agrees to represent him, he'll be facing the Council for his trial in three years, at most."

"Calyárina will never represent Mulch Diggums, and even if Mulch gets off, he won't go to Artemis. He'll still be on probation. We'll be watching him."

Foaly took a large bite of his carrot. Sagely, he said, "You should never underestimate Mulch Diggums."

* * *

A/N: Well? This is the canon version of my old fic Artisan Cliff... please review...


	2. equals and a formality

**DISCLAIMER:** No, I still don't own any of the characters that have made an appearance in the Eoin Colfer books. But Calyárina and Lukas are mine. I like them.

**A/N: **To my reviewers... **holikaimelar**, thanks for the review... but if you're looking for a regularly updated fic, I'm afraid I shall fail you. I'm simply not a reliable updater. My apologies! And to **Invader Nina** - I really appreciate the review! You're one of the reviewers who can make my day... thanks! (I love writing new fics too!) **Happynutcase**, I'm a bit worried this fic won't receive the approval "Artisan Cliff" did. But you know, this is just a rewritten version. Practically the entire Chapter One of "Artisan Cliff" appears in this first chapter, too, only slightly edited and spliced with other scenes. Is that okay? To **griffin&sabine**, I still love your name, even if I'm forced to change mine. You're one of the more consistent anonymous reviewers... and, hehe, I think you're exaggerating. Was that outrageous compliment aimed at me, despite my terrible updating habits? And, **otakuprincess**, I wish you luck with your H/A fic... I'll check out the next chapters... this'll be Artemis/Lianne, but I hope you continue reading this. **The Xylia**, and **PrOnGs Da GrEaT**, thanks for reviewing! It's only the prologue, but I hope it gets better. And finally, **glow-in-the-dark**: as usual, thanks for the praise and support. Please keep reviewing! Remember, this is just a rewritten version of "Artisan Cliff"!

* * *

_Three and a half years after Artemis Fowl kidnapped _– _and released _– _ Tong Sheng Tu._

CHAPTER ONE

(_equals and a formality_)

Julius Root slipped into the Council Room.

His face already held a tinge of red. A hearing to determine whether or not to put Mulch Diggums in jail. D'arvit. If that criminal didn't belong in jail, no one did.

Although all three Commanders had been welcome at the hearing, Root was the only one who attended, out of a personal interest in the criminal. There was no 'jury of peers' present - the final decision would be made by the Council. He spotted an empty seat next to Ivy Vinyáya and slid into it. To his satisfaction, most of the Council members were stony-faced, as though reluctant to even entertain the notion of freeing Mulch Diggums.

"Where's the criminal?" he asked Vinyáya.

She shot him a dark look. "His name is Mulch Diggums, Julius. And from what I hear, he may have a valid argument."

Before Root could snort, the oak-paneled door opened. An elegantly pretty elf, just a few decades younger than Root, stepped in. Her long white-blond hair, streaked with burning red-gold, gleamed above her light green eyes, and everything about her suggested understated sophistication and intense professionalism. Next to her was Mulch Diggums, a smug smirk on his face, handcuffed at the wrists and ankles and flanked by two expressionless LEP officers.

"Elena Calyárina," Root murmured, aghast. Foaly had told him that Diggums was writing to the lovely elf lawyer, but he had been confident nothing would come of it.

Vinyáya smiled. "I've seen her before. She's one of the better fairy attorneys."

Root could feel his blood pressure shooting up. "How did the crim – Diggums get Calyárina to represent him?"

The female commander and council member next to him shrugged. "That's why I said he had a valid argument."

Root was purpling. "D'arvit," he hissed.

Calyárina gave the council members a professional smile, and began. "My client, the dwarf Mulch Diggums, was arrested four and a half years ago on charges of kleptomania. I am here to prove that his arrest was illegal…"

-------)---{}---(-------

"Listen, Artemis. It's wonderful that you know what the bloody heck 'sodium chloride' is," Lianne Ramirez snapped. "But – "

Artemis glanced coolly at his lab partner, then turned back to the experiment sheet. "I believe the layman's term is 'table salt,'" he murmured.

"Great. I'm glad we've cleared that up." Lianne scowled. "Too bad it's already written on the board! I was actually asking why you're typing up our experiment sheet, when we have yet to actually perform the experiment."

"I've already done this several times. My results, of course, were accurate. I believe I know more than Professor Stafford does about this experiment. There is simply no point in wasting time doing the experiment when you can just read what I have written and commit it to memory for the test," Artemis explained. He went back to typing, with a speed unusual for one his age, on the computer.

Lianne was tempted to strangle him.

It was the fourth day of classes for students attending Artisan Cliff, an elite private college that was considered to be one of the best in the world. It had a curriculum that combined academic, arts, and athletics. In its brochure, it claimed that over 80% of their graduates went on to gain national or international fame by the age of forty, either as artists, politicians, athletes, et cetera. It had a brilliant staff, excellent facilities, and a school population that was never allowed to exceed 160. Its tuition was also incredibly expensive.

Of course, the students could usually more than afford it. Or at least, their parents could.

Lianne was a rare exception. Her parents wanted her to receive the best education, so they had scraped and saved for years to come up with money. When they announced that they could finally afford to send their beloved daughter to Artisan Cliff as a college freshman, they were happier than she was.

Lianne had nothing against Artisan Cliff. She was impressed by the fact that there was one computer per two students. She enjoyed it that the classrooms were air-conditioned in the heat, and heated in the cold. She respected the brilliant staff.

But she held Artemis Fowl, Junior, against the school.

Lianne had already decided that she would never forgive Professor Stafford for pairing them. She knew that Artemis was unfairly blessed with brains, wealth, and, as if those weren't enough, fairly good looks too, but she despised him anyway. She hated how arrogant he was about himself. She hated how condescending he was towards her, just because her IQ wasn't a million and five.

For his part, Artemis was equally irritated with her.

He had graduated from St. Bartleby's High School, valedictorian, of course. His parents had placed him in Artisan Cliff for college. Artemis quite liked the school, but he was growing increasingly annoyed with his lab partner. At St. Bartleby's, his former lab partners had either tried to pretend that they knew as much as he did to impress him, or they just copied what he did and reaped the good grades.

But Lianne seemed determined to work with him as an equal. Artemis continued typing, but inside he was frowning. Didn't she know that he was smarter than ten of her put together?

For all his intelligence, he was still stunned when Lianne suddenly reached down and unplugged the computer. The screen flickered, then went black.

"I hadn't saved that," Artemis said coldly.

Heatedly she retorted, "Thank god for that. Now let's do the experiment, like everyone else." She gestured around the room. The rest of the forty students in the class were clustered in pairs around the lab tables, looking back and forth between their experiments and the computers next to them.

Artemis didn't bother to hide his disdain. "I repeat. I have performed this experiment numerous times, and I have come to a conclusion. the My outcome, which was the same each time I executed this experiment, was accurate."

Lianne wasn't a violent person, but right now, she was seriously weighing the consequences of slapping Artemis Fowl right on his super-intelligent cheek. She actually lifted her palm, held back only by the thought of what he would do to retaliate. Hack into her e-mails and sabotage them?

He noticed. Graciously he conceded, "But seeing how upset you are, I shall not reprimand you for your childish action. After all, I shall find it easy to type up our experiment report again."

That was it. Lianne marched away from him. Stopping next to Professor Stafford, she asked sweetly, "Professor, do you know anyone who's willing to trade lab partners?"

-------)---{}---(-------

"A FORMALITY!" Root bellowed. "YOU'RE CONSIDERING THE RELEASE OF A CRIMINAL ON A FORMALITY!"

"The _violation_ of a formality," Cassio Pidgerus, an elderly council member, asserted.

Root felt like he was going to explode. Certainly an alarming amount of blood rushed into his head, and his heart felt like it was going into overdrive. Vinyáya quickly put a hand on his arm, patting him, and made her voice soothing. "Relax, Julius…"

Root exhaled and fumbled in his pockets for a cigar. When he drew one out, another council member, Breton Lukas, glanced coolly at him and said, "Those filthy things aren't allowed in the council room."

Of course, the newest and youngest of the seven council members was offending a lot of his colleagues, those who were even more avid smokers than Root. But if Lukas cared, he wasn't showing it. Only Vinyáya knew that the sprite – who was extraordinarily brilliant even among the more intelligent members of his species – truly didn't care. Lukas hadn't gotten where he was by being timid.

Root wanted to strangle the impudent little sprite, but Vinyáya's hands tightened on his arm and he restrained himself. As calmly as possible, he pulled a cigar out, glaring at Lukas. Daring him to argue.

A faint grin appeared on Lukas' face, and he shrugged. Root realized that the kid (the fact that he was a mere five decades older than Holly Short nowithstanding) hadn't been banning him from smoking. He had simply been informing him that the 'filthy things' weren't allowed.

Vinyáya's grip loosened, and for some reason, Root relaxed. With admirable restraint he announced to the council, "If you release Mulch Diggums, I will personally see to it that he is captured again. And this time, there won't be any loopholes for that criminal to wiggle through."

Pidgerus sniffed. "Commendable, Julius. Because from what that lawyer Calyárina has said, it seems we may have to release him."

He couldn't help it. Automatically, Root felt his blood pressure beginning to skyrocket again. Damned fools. "The criminal stole your gold, or did you forget that?" he bit out.

But even as Root said it, he knew it was useless. Calyárina was simply too good. As she had pointed out, the LEP hadn't arrested Diggums legally. Now, what kind of a Council would it be if its members let their personal vendettas get in the way of justice? They might hate Diggums for stealing their gold, but they shouldn't let that interfere with fairness in this case. The fact was, in the eyes of the law, her client, Mulch Diggums, should never have been arrested in the first place, because the warrant had expired a day _before_ the arrest.

"No, Commander Root, we haven't forgotten that," Council Chairman Cahartez said, watching him. Lukas leaned forward, his translucent wings shimmering faintly behind him, and murmured something in his ear, and Cahartez said, "Why don't we listen to Calyárina's final argument before we make a decision? Commander, you may fetch her."

In effect, the Chairman was giving the Commander a chance to talk to Mulch Diggums, off the record, before the council allowed him to walk out, a free dwarf again. Root, finally realizing that there was nothing more to be done, agreed. On his way out, he gave the insolent sprite who had dared to ban him from smoking a curt nod of thanks.

Lukas nodded back. Vinyáya sat back and thought that the two fairies were lucky they had chosen to respect each other. Otherwise, they would have ripped each other to shreds.

-------)---{}---(-------

"Is anything wrong, Artemis?"

Artemis glanced up. He was sitting in the leather backseat of a Bentley, on his way home from school. Butler was driving, but as he did, he watched his charge in the rearview mirror, a bit concerned.

Butler studied his employer's face. It never ceased to amaze him how quickly Artemis had grown. His dark hair now crowned a tanned face, since St. Bartleby's had imposed a rule that required all students to take athletics during his junior year of high school. His deep blue eyes seemed to spill brilliance over the rest of his face.

Lately he had been feeling much older himself, but he refused to acknowledge that, or the slight pain in his chest, the origins of which he had never determined. Artemis had never treated him as anything less than a fully competent bodyguard, and for that he was grateful.

But now, Artemis seemed a bit subdued.

"Nothing is wrong, Butler. I am merely mulling over the matter of my lab partner."

Butler stifled a smile. He had been hearing a lot about Lianne since the first day of classes, when Artemis first met her. Apparently, the girl wasn't impressed by him or his mental abilities.

"She attempted to change lab partners," Artemis said moodily. "I was all for it, of course, but Professor Stafford refused. He said he had paired us according to our abilities and compatibility, and that he had never been wrong." Artemis paused.

"What happened?" Butler asked.

"I informed him that the probability of his accuracy in pairing people continuing without fail was about 2%."

Butler roared with laughter. Had this incident occurred a few years ago, Artemis might have reproved him for his disrespectful attitude, but he had been closer to his bodyguard since the Artic Incident. They looked upon each other as the brother neither had had.

So Artemis only said, "Professor Stafford found it less amusing than you did. He ordered me to perform the experiment and sent Lianne back to her seat." He paused again, then added sourly, "She didn't gloat, but she might as well have. I performed the experiment, the results of which I had already memorized long ago, with her, and she had a victorious little smile on her face the whole time."

Butler smiled. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad, Artemis."

Artemis shrugged and sipped pure water from a crystal decanter. He didn't answer, but he was thinking. In reality, he could have finished all his studies, from elementary to college, in a few years. The education he was interested in, the academic studies that challenged him, took up where most college graduates left off. But it was all a part of his father's plan for a normal family life.

In truth, Artemis didn't mind too much. He was smart enough to admit to himself that he needed a loving family. Why, four and a half years ago, he was doing abominable things. He was –

His mind drew a blank, which annoyed him, but there was nothing to be done about that period in his life which he seemed to have spent doing basically nothing.

By the time they reached home, they were discussing the latest combat handguns available on the market.

-------)---{}---(-------

Lianne was still triumphant over the episode in the laboratory that day. She giggled to herself as she recalled the look on Professor Stafford's face when Artemis had spouted percentage.

She headed to her brothers' room. Rico and Miguel were her older brothers, and they were away on a tour of Australia. They had saved their own money to fund it, because her parents had poured their savings into her tuition for Artisan Cliff.

They had a computer in their room. She turned it on now and logged on to her e-mail account, hoping to hear from her brothers. She missed them terribly. They wouldn't be returning till the end of her freshman year in college.

Lianne laughed as she read her brothers' e-mail. They had sent her pictures of themselves diving and splashing around at the enormous Olympic pool in Sydney, which they had visited for the day. Although people often thought that people with Eurasian looks were stunning, in truth only Rico, the eldest, deserved to be called drop-dead gorgeous. Miguel and Lianne were both more Asian than European, and shared their mother's black hair and dark eyes.

However, when Lianne went to bed, she was still thinking about Artemis. She had noticed his icy glare all throughout their lab time, as if he loathed being sent to the level of mere mortals, but she really hadn't been able to wipe the smile off her face.

She had heard the stories about him. They said he was a criminal. They said his father was, too. They said that he could be enormously vindictive. If the gossip was to be believed, he had been seen all over the world on the same day, the same hour. But she wasn't impressed. She thought the stories highly exaggerated.

She wondered what he would do to get back at her tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N:** Please review... and, by the way, do you think I should continue "Artisan Cliff"? Or should I just delete it?


End file.
